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MEDIA ADVISORY:
About 7,500 graduates to be honored at San Francisco State University's Commencement at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 29

#090

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS
SFSU Office of Public Affairs
(415) 338-1665
(415) 706-5176 (cell)
(415) 609-1666 (cell)

Press Release published by the Office of Public Affairs

 


GREAT VISUALS: Families, graduates from 110 countries to share congratulations with hugs, kisses and tears; graduates decorate caps and gowns with messages, flowers, cultural attire

WHAT:
San Francisco State University's 103rd Commencement exercises, where more than 4,000 students among the 7,500 graduates will receive their degrees before a crowd of 20,000.

WHO:

  • Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and a former S.F. State faculty member who later became president of Brown University, will receive an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters and deliver the keynote speech.
  • S.F. State alumnus Willie L. Brown Jr., former mayor of San Francisco, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.
  • S.F. State business Professor Gary Selnow will receive the President's Medal for Service for his efforts to rebuild community and health care in countries disrupted by war, conflict or rampant illness, including Iraq.
  • Co-founder and CEO of online lender E-LOAN Chris Larsen is the SFSU Alumnus of the Year. Antoinette Ball, a political science grad and community volunteer with plans to open a performing arts school in Oakland, is the student speaker.
  • Actor Delroy Lindo, who has appeared in such films as "The Cider House Rules," "Malcolm X" and "Romeo Must Die," will earn a bachelor's degree in cinema. He has attended SFSU under a pseudonym and taken all of his classes via correspondence.
  • Other standout students include: Armando J. Lemus Hernandez, an immigrant of El Salvador and future physician who defied the odds after high school counselors advised him to skip college; Mary O'Donnell, a budding novelist and community activist in her 70s who founded the first residential and detox recovery home for women in Riverside County; and many others with inspiring stories and plans to make a difference in the world.

WHEN AND WHERE:
Saturday, May 29. Procession begins at 12:20 p.m. in Cox Stadium, located behind the Gymnasium on the SFSU campus (See attached map). Commencement speeches begin at 1 p.m., and graduates throw their mortarboards in celebration at about 2:15 p.m.

Reserved parking for credentialed media: located in front of the SFSU Public Safety building on North State State Drive (off Lake Merced Boulevard). From the parking area, walk to the top floor of the parking structure, then proceed southeast toward the main campus and Cox Stadium. Media interested in covering Commencement are asked to contact the Office of Public Affairs at (415) 338-1665 for media credentials prior to the ceremony. Mult-box available.

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Last modified May 28, 2004, by the Office of Public Affairs